


Down by the Riverside

by EowynRivers



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire, game of thrones
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-10
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-12-14 13:38:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/837484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EowynRivers/pseuds/EowynRivers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Red Wedding. Happens just after the death of Catelyn and Robb. Edmure Tully is made prisoner at the twins with Roslin..</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dark times for trouts

**Author's Note:**

> Title come from the song Riverside by Agnes Obel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be afraid to say what you think of it. Reviews are highly appreciated :)

The screams and cries were getting louder and louder. This time Edmure couldn't ignore them. Laying in his bed next to his young bride Roslin, doubt in him began to grow. She was looking at him terrified and crying. "Roslin... Tell me what's happening, tell me now." His voice was sour and his face still. "They made me do it... They forced me... I didn't want too.." Footsteps could be heard, coming closer and closer to the bedroom. "Doing what? What do you mean Roslin?!" He was now afraid, not angry, afraid. "I am so sorry Edmure, so sorry...."  
The door opened and ten Frey men entered: "Your sister's dead, her son's dead, now you're gonna spend the end of your wedding night in a cell. Sorry Roslin but you're no longer Lady of Riverrun, old Walder is." The men took him and tied him. He didnt even try to defend himself. The shock was too big... He had never felt such sadness and despair inside him.... Never. For the while he forgot what was happening, that he was put in a dungeon, alone, in the cold of the night. He could only thought about Catelyn. They hadn't mentioned Brynden, maybe was he still alive. He remembered the times in Riverrun when they were children, how they used to swim in the rivers, playing with Lysa and Petyr. How everything had changed when the war began, when Catelyn and Lysa left for the first time. He was alone without his mother and sisters but only his father for company... He wasn't unhappy but he was lonely. And now all alone in his cell he could only thought about them, Cat, Lysa, his father... Lysa and him had been very close for a while, Cat being his father's favorite, they often stayed alone in Riverrun, teaching him how to swim, reading him stories etc. She was now a broken woman, broken by all her miscarriages and the deep bitterness she had for their father. She would never forgive him. Would he ever see her again? He was now the only one left of the Tullys of Riverrun. I must live, if not for me, for my family's honor, it's my duty. He had never felt more Tully than at this moment, when the pain became a part of him.  
He thought about Roslin too. She said she knew, they had forced her. Edmure was young but he knew how to recognize an honest word. And she was. They were doomed now, doomed to a life of grief and mourning, a life together: they had made a vow in front of the septon. Would he live forever like this, prisoner in a dark cell with death as only companion ? Make this stop, I beg you make this stop. He didn't even know who he was talking to, maybe the gods, maybe his father... He was half naked with only a thin shirt to cover him. The stones were as cold as ice and his blood burnt him from inside. The night was only beginning and the short time he had had with his wife had been such a pleasure... She was scared yes, but also sweet and loving: he hoped he hadn't hurt her too much.  
Now he only had to wait. Wait for what? He didn't know. For death to come for him? Death was already all around him. For dawn? Maybe. Maybe all that had only been a dream, and he would wake up in his bed next to Roslin smiling at him. But in the Riverlands they said that to recognize if you were dreaming or not you only had to see if you could smell. And the smell of blood, sweat and death was all around him, poisoning his lungs softly.  
The only thought that could make him feel better was the vision of peaceful Riverrun. They had made a song about it "When that old river runs past your eyes to wash off the dirt on the riverside, go to the water so very near,the river will be your eyes and ears". He only had to close his eyes to see the rivers, to hear the soft waves on the shore and the sweet melody of this song. He hated singers but this one... The exception that confirmed the rule.  
He was crying now. How odd was it to notice that the tears rolling on his cheek were fresh water and not salt water. Riverrun is with me, wherever I go. That's not blood that runs in my veins, that's the waters of Riverrun.  
There was a small window in the cell and the pale silver light of the mood with the red flames from the battlefield allowed him to see the River: the Greenfork. It was not the waters of Riverrun but it was water and what is best for a trout, thought it, than clear and calm water. The only peaceful element of the landscape. Here to ease my mind.  
He slowly closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to come for him. But as the screams became louder and louder, painful reality came back to him, as an arrow in his stomach. The last time he had seen them they were happy, laughing with him during the bedding ceremony. Would they show him the bodies? It was the most difficult thought of the night, he wanted to remember the laughs, the smiles and not the damaged bodies of Robb his nephew, the flesh of his flesh, and of his sister. Family, duty, honor. Family comes always first thought he, as he once again closed his eyes to try to find some sleep.


	2. The deep and strong, the straight and true

"Wake up you fool! Wake up and admire the landscape." Black Walder was sitting next to him, his voice like an harsh murmur to his ears. He was pointing at the small window and at the terror of the battlefield. Edmure's eyes were barely opened but he could see the black smoke and the thousands of corpses, some beheaded, some so much injured that one could never say who it was, if he was young or old, high placed or simple soldier waiting to come back home. It was Robb's men that had been killed, but also his. The North will never forget, the Riverlands will never forgive.   
"Get up, lazy arse! We wanted to show you something, a special gift only for you!"   
They were going to show him the bodies. He didn't know how they had killed them but it couldn't be a gentle death, they had too much pride not to make them feel what it was like to be killed by a Frey. The walk seemed to last hours until they reached the courtyard. When they finally managed to get there, the sun blinded him. It was so strong... Not a gentle summer sun, but a strong winter one.   
And then he saw him. Robb, his nephew, with the head of Grey Wind sewed on his neck. The vision was terrible, but not enough to make him cry before them. He was Edmure of House Tully from Riverrun, he was not going to cry, not for Freys of the crossing. But then he saw her. She was laying on the ground, her throat cut, her dress as red as the Tully's flags, burning behind her. Tears running on his cheeks, legs giving up, Edmure fall on the ground of the courtyard. They were laughing at him, at his situation. Laughing at the shadows in his life: Robb, Hoster, Catelyn, Brynden...  
"Is my uncle still alive?" The words had trouble coming out of his mouth, his throat strangled by angst. "Your damn uncle is, Tully. He escaped during the night" The way he had pronounced his family name, like it was some sort of curse one would say to its enemy, filled him with rage. I'm a Tully, I must be brave.   
He could feel water on his face but it wasn't tears, rain was softly washing him and the corpses of his loved ones. The Frey men didnt seem to enjoy it, but this rain, his rain, made him feel alive. I shall not bend to no one. Ever. He felt a small hand on his back, turning his face he discovered the painful face of his wife, Roslin. Slowly she sat next to him, taking Edmure in her arms. The men remained silent. Only a glance from his great aunt had made him understand. She was a Tully now. And she knew their words better than anyone. Family came always first and he was now his family. They would suffer together.   
"Roslin. Leave us now." She put a small kiss on her husband's forehead and stood up, whispering for him only "I'll be your eyes and ears.." They were looking at each other. Our wedding may be cursed, but our marriage will be strong. You will never be alone I promise you that. They said you loved someone because they sing a song only you can hear, Roslin was singing the soft hymn of the river and in this deafening silence only him recognized it.   
The men made him stood up and walk to her sister's body. One of them and Lame Lothar carried her on their shoulders and together they walked to the riverside. "Watch, Tully, and watch carefully. People say that you couldn't shoot an arrow strait for your father's funeral, well this time you won't have to do so. Throw her in the water." Black Walder was admiring the view. The traitor Catelyn Stark born Tully was dead and they were now going to show her how Freys of the crossing paid tribute to traitors. By humiliating them.   
This was a parody of the Tullys funeral. I am lord Edmure Tully of Riverrun, lord paramount of the Trident. You may think you're burying my pride my joy and my reason to live, but it's my leniency you killed. And from this day till the day I'll die I will have the strength to hate you and to bring justice for my family.   
Do you hear the sound of the bloodied Tumblestone and the Red Fork’s waves Walder Frey? That’s the hymn of vengeance. And they sing for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear"   
> Oscar Wilde.


	3. A place called hate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this. Don't be afraid of saying what you think of it. Also Im soon going to have a beta so bye bye all the grammar mistakes ^^

It was no time for dreams or for hope. For Edmure Tully it was time to be brave. In the last few days he had tasted physical pain like never before. They came to his cell, put burning ashes on his body, strangled him sometimes... But at night Roslin, his wife, came to him. She waited in front of the dungeon till the guards fell asleep and then she met him. They didn't often talked, they cried. Tears of pain, tears of joy. I am hers and she is mine. 

It would be too hot, too dark, but I shall not close the window nor the door. This is only a fragile cell, a fresh breeze would be enough to wipe it away. She let in the room her scent, subtle potion for him to dream about. There are flowers in you I do not know, and I will keep, jealous, those dearest emissions. But to my nose, suddenly worried, a disturbing exhalation offered itself: the animal smell of human condition, of sweat, dirt and death. Dear Roslin, before the sovereign Time and its cruel teasing take away our tears and pain, on the ruins of our desires, leave to my memory your sweet perfume to dress up the lonely days. 

One night, she didn't come, nor the days after. His loneliness became his only company and the hope to see Riverrun one day again was slowly swept away. His only thoughts were about his family. They were his reason to live, to stay awake. I must make them proud of me. This is what a true lord of Riverrun would do, it is what I am, no matter what Old Walder Frey could possibly say.  
"Hurry up, Tully, Old Walder is waiting for you". It was Lothar Frey and his men who led him to the great hall of the castle. It was as dark as before and still dirty, full of the invading perfume of blood.  
He was there on his chair, looking at him with a big smile on his face. But next to him , head turned to the floor was Roslin, his wife, crying.  
"I have great news for you, Tully! First Tom O'Sevens was wrong: it's not a floppy fish you've got underneath your pants it's a fertile trout! Yes that's the second news: you're little wife, my daughter has a fish in the womb! It means that if its a little girl, you will know the joys of parenthood, but if it is a boy... Well we won't need you anymore... Lothar bring him back to his cell I don't want any of this Tully scum in this room. And put Roslin with him for the week. She'll see what happens when one disobeys to its father. "  
Back in his cell with Roslin they gave them blankets and pillows, "For the night. Walder wants its daughter to be treated well."  
She couldn't stop crying, full of the despair a woman learns to know when her family is threatened. "I am so sorry Edmure, so sorry.” He hadn't been happier in days. "Roslin. Don't cry. We are going to have a child. If it's a girl we will raise her together, in Riverrun. And if it's a boy... You will raise him like a good tully. Promise me that." She softly raised her eyes to him and said "I swear to the mother that I will Edmure." “Now let's think about something else, do you want to hear about Riverrun?” They sat next to each other on the poor bed he had in his cell. “I do.”  
Taking in her arms and laying down the bed he started preaching “Riverrun is the most beautiful place in all the seven kingdoms and beyond. It's a big castle made of grey solid stones and circled by the Tumblestone and the Red Fork, the gardens are wide and beautiful beyond the rivers and I remember swimming there with my sisters when I was a child... It's a peaceful place, full of animals and nature, you will love it. Do you know how to swim?” She smiled at him “No I don't.” He put his hands on her belly and whispered "Then I will teach you how to swim in the pale waters of Riverrun.”  
As he kissed her for the first time since the wedding he met her eyes.  
“Your eyes so deep I stoop to drink I've seen  
All the bright suns here to preen  
Seen the despairing all plunge in to die  
Your eyes so deep I lose my memory.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a French poem Les Yeux d'Elsa by Aragon
> 
> If you want to hear a fanmix I made about Riverrun here's for you: 8tracks (.) com/madmalora/waters-of-riverrun/  
> If you want to contact me here's my tumblr: TheRiverlandsRemember or RoslinTullying


	4. They cry mandragoras

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit just got real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! If anyone is interested to beta this fic don't hesitate :)

Roslin was peacefully sleeping next to him, with only a thin cloth to cover her pale body. Night was still covering the landscape of its darkness and the moon was coating Roslin of her silver light. He could see through the small window the trees roaring with the wind, the crimson leaves and the gloomy grass. Even the nature's ornament was groaning horror. His week with Roslin was now over and he was to leave to Riverrun leaving her at the Crossing with his child in her womb. He would let her a piece of his hair, a letter and a drawing of her wearing, an ivy crown, in a blue and red dress. Tully colors. She was a Tully now, his little wife. 

Never before farewells had been that painful. They had cried together, praying for it not to be the last time they saw each other. The last thing he had told her was two names “Hoster, Catelyn” Two names for the shadows in his life. Death or life. 

She had given him a piece of her hair too, that he kept in his hand, tight enough to make him feel every bits of it, but loose enough to keep it soft and full of her perfume. He had changed physically: he was thinner, a beard had appeared on his face and his eyes darkened. 

Brynden held Riverrun against the Freys and he was to stay in the camp with their men. Being so close and still so far away from his uncle... They said he was a proud silly young man and maybe he was but he was a Tully too and Tullys drew their strength from the River. When I will be near Riverrun I will hear it again, the melancholic melody of the Tumblestone and the RedFork. 

They had put him on a horse, hands tied on the front, preventing him from controlling the horse. Hundreds of men were accompanying him. The minimum for such an important figure like me, thought he. He hadn't completely lost his sense of humor at least....   
The trip lasted two weeks.   
He could see some Lannister men among the Freys. They said that the Rains of Castamere were playing as the slaughter began. 

The wind was blowing in the trees "And who are you, the proud lord said, that I must bow so low?" the grass watered by the fresh dew "Only a cat of a different coat, That’s all the truth I know". The calm breeze of the morning "In a coat of gold or a coat of red, A lion still has claws", turned to the stringent gust of wind of winter &And mine are long and sharp, my lord, As long and sharp as yours" that froze his blood and bones. 

The rains of dawn, the snows of twilight and the silver night sun were his sole company to his lost visions of peace.


	5. Flowers are carnivorous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter too.

"Do you think he's watching? Do you think he can hear his nephew begging for death?" Ryman Frey and his men were surrounding the waters of Riverrun. Everyday since they arrived they threatened to hang Edmure if Brynden Tully didn't surrender Riverrun. They put the rope around his neck and pushed harder and harder. The pain was terrible. Yes he was begging for death to come. At least he would find Catelyn there if it wasn't here. Sometimes they would give him some wine to ease the pain, miraculous luxury in his sleazy life.   
“Tully! Wake up! Jaime Lannister is here. Want to see you and your damn uncle.”   
He was in front of him, the kingslayer. It had been quite a time since he had last saw him. He was a child and they wanted to marry him to Lysa, his sister, he was young but he already seemed so fierce, so skilled with swords... I never had such a reputation unfortunately, always the little boy who tried but failed lamentably. And still.  
“Thank me for I am liberating you from days of pain. Give us Riverrun.”   
“Why would I do that?”  
“Well if you don't... You wouldn't any harm to happen to Roslin and her child, would you?”  
No he didn't want anything to happen to her and their child. Ever. But giving up Riverrun? 

“Uncle!” Yes he had accepted to surrender Riverrun. For her life, for his life, for the lives of his men. “I'm giving them Riverrun, uncle. I am sorry. They threaten to kill Roslin and our child... They will arrive in a minute, leave now. You still have time.”  
The two men looked at each other, smiling. Times were harsh, yes but they were a family and they had to stay alive. It was time to leave for Brynden. Stay strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think :)


	6. I will give my soul to science

“What you forgot, Edmure in this cell, I keep it buried in me. I do not know all your secrets, nor all your declensions. But here Edmure I will wait for you, wait for you to come back to me, to us.  
My belly seems to grow bigger and bigger each day. I know you see no threat in this, but I carry your death and I believe I am dying from inside. If you die, I die. I live in a stifling atmosphere and only the memory of your scent allows me to breathe.  
Come back to me. I pray each day for a girl, a child we could raise together, for I do not wish to raise a child fatherless.  
Come back to me I beg you…  
Roslin”  
She knows they would never allow him to read this letter, but what can she do of her days if not hoping?  
I wish I could incarnate the ephemera, being the subtle elixir peace needs. I wish I could do something to stop this endless night.  
But what a child in a cell could do? They call them “the players”, maybe she could become one too… She could be as important as Tywin Lannister, or Stannis Baratheon… But she is a woman, and women cannot rule. They say the last Targaryen is preparing a war to take her throne, and she is a woman, they also say Stannis is guided by a red priestess and that his queen Selyse rules when he cannot. Maybe she can count too. She is the lady of Riverrun, lady of the Riverlands. The one that put me in this cell, they should kneel before me, they should fear me! I am no longer a little girl, I am a grown married women, who bears in her womb the heir of one of the seven kingdoms, I will not let them fool me. Tomorrow they will free me, and they will understand.  
The ground is still full of their enemy’s blood, but the sun shines harder than usual today, maybe the sun shines for her, who knows.  
Nobody talks to me. They avoid me. But I do not fear them, my name is Roslin Tully and I would not let myself intimidate by them. I see them… Ryman, Walder, Ami… Why aren’t they kneeling? Why did they put me in a cell? Nothing makes sense anymore.  
Loneliness isn’t killing me, loneliness is making me stronger. And I need this strength for I am surrounded by enemies. I miss Edmure, but I will stand till I see him again, in a tomb or in a shirt, I will see him again. And I will not shame him, I will honor my new family’s duty. I will pray and stand every day of my life if necessary.  
They will understand what it means. To be a Tully in a bunch of Freys. They will not hear the trout screaming in the river, they will not see it but they will know it is here, waiting patiently for dawn to come.


	7. Like dynamite

Days go by and look alike for Roslin and Edmure Tully.  
She prays every day for a girl and he suffers in silence.  
She does not receive a letter but it is her father who announces her that she is to leave to Casterly Rock. She smiles shily for she knows she will see her husband again. She knows it.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________  
“Lord Walder, Roslin is going to give birth. I believe you should know that things aren’t going well, if we have to make a choice, should we save the mother’s or the child’s life?”  
“The child! We need this child, don’t you understand?!”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Please Roslin! Push harder! The child is almost here!!”  
“But I can’t!! It is too difficult!! I can’t…”  
The nurse is alone with Roslin in the room, but two guards are waiting outside.   
“One last push Roslin, and it will be over, I promise, I can see the baby’s head!”  
Soon enough, the woman carries a baby in her arms. A small cry can be heard.  
“What is it Amy? A girl? A boy? Tell me!”  
The nurse understands. She doesn’t smile until the lack of a small manhood makes the femininity of the child clear.  
“It’s a girl, Roslin. A girl.”  
“Give her to me. And go to Lord Frey, tell him it’s a girl, and prepare horses. I am going to Casterly Rock tomorrow.”   
“Yes m’lady.”  
The child has red hair, like her father, and Tully eyes. She doesn’t have a name. Edmure will choose.  
But Roslin knows it is a small Catelyn she holds in her arms.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Edmure! Your wife gave birth to a red-haired little girl! She is on her way to Casterly rock!”  
For the first time in months he smiles. A pure smile of happiness. His wife, and his daughter soon next to him.   
He cannot wait for them to arrive.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A week later she is before him. She looks exactly the same, except that in her arms she carries a baby. His daughter.  
“What’s her name? Can I take her?”  
Roslin puts the little girl in Edmure’s arms.  
“I didn’t choose a name. I wanted to let you…”  
He smiles to her and whispers: “Catelyn.”

**Author's Note:**

> The song is Riverside by Agnes Obel  
> Don't be afraid to say what you think of it :) Also sorry for my terrible English


End file.
